


Taylor Hebert and the Mark of Autumn

by MKwitch



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Alt!Power AU, F/F, Fae & Fairies, Unusual power, other dimensions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27922747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MKwitch/pseuds/MKwitch
Summary: Magic helps Taylor during the locker incident, sending her to a magical realm where the Fae are real, the Lands are split into seasons, and each Season has a peculiar aesthetic that determines what the Fae in it looks like. But now, with the power to call upon Fae magic any time she wants, will Taylor be able to fit in with other Parahumans?
Relationships: Honey/Caramel, OC/OC
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	Taylor Hebert and the Mark of Autumn

Taylor Hebert sat huddled against the bark of a tree, shivering. The moon was high in the sky, but it appeared as if the sun had just set. A brisk wind tore through Taylor's skinny arms, her sticky clothing more absorbing the chill than keeping it out. Her teeth briefly chattered.

Something was wrong.

Taylor wasn't in the locker anymore, but that was clearly a good thing. Was it the forest? While creepy, it was filled with the bright colours of fall, almost glowing in the twilight hours. No. Was it the ground? Mossy, with brown mushrooms dotting the fallen foliage. No, that looked normal too.

Maybe it was the faint calliope music Taylor heard on the wind? Yes, that was it! Why would there be cheerful organ music piping through an old forest? Unless...

Unless Taylor was near civilization. Giving herself a wan smile, Taylor got up off the leaf-strewn ground, and plodded her way towards where the sound of the pipe organ was playing.

After a few minutes of walking, Taylor found the clearing where the merry melody was coming from. There were huge tents all about the edges of the clearing, in red and yellow stripes for the most part, like circus tents. In the centre of the tents was a small fire-pit and some figures huddled around it.

It wasn't hard to figure out that this was a travelling carnival. The music, the tents, the faint smell of candy in the air... Yes, this was most certainly a circus.

The two silhouettes against the fire chatted quietly, one of them occasionally taking a swig of something from a big mug. Taylor couldn't understand what they were saying from this far away.

The person not drinking from the mug suddenly stopped talking, and then said something to the other one that sounded like a question.

And then they stood up.

And up, and up...

Taylor pressed back against the tree, trying to remain as still and silent as possibly. That thing wasn't human! It stood at about ten and a half feet tall, with stick-thin limbs that put Taylor in mind of a scarecrow. But it moved way too fluidly to be on stilts.

The thing cocked its head, and its face came into view. The features were off, too. The eyes a little too big, the mouth a little too small, the nose just a bit more flat than a human's.

But what really drew Taylor's eyes was the face-paint. Garishly bright makeup surrounded its eyes, with a sapphire mouth and large dots of red on the apples of its cheeks.

Then the whatever-it-was started sniffing the air. Taylor honestly expected it to start saying "Fee-fi-fo-fum!" at any second. But instead it just continued its sniffing, loping closer and closer to Taylor's hiding spot at the edge of the clearing.

Taylor was shaking now, and her foot slipped on a patch of rather soggy moss, causing the girl to twist her ankle and lose her balance, falling onto her face on the leafy ground.

It was too much for the teen. First the locker, then getting lost in some random forest, and now she was going to be eaten by some kind of giant humanoid creature?!

Taylor began to cry. 

"Aww, you poor thing!" The being cooed in a feminine voice. "I bet you're lost, aren't you?" 

And it wrapped its skinny hands under Taylor's arms, and lifted her up like she was an infant. 

"Look what I found, Caramel!" The creature called out to its partner. "I think it's a human!" 

Taylor continued sobbing, not knowing how to stop the waterworks anymore. 

The other humanoid strolled over. "Honey, you're scaring the poor thing! Look, the little one is shaking!" 

The one called Caramel took Taylor from Honey, and started to rock her like a baby, making shushing noises. Strangely enough, Taylor found it rather calming, and within a few minutes, most of her crying had died down to sniffles. 

Taylor, no longer quite as upset, decided to try and figure out her situation. How she got into the woods from her locker was a mystery that she couldn't solve. But the reason for the strange, giant beings treating her like a baby? Well, Taylor could estimate that she was about the same size and shape as one of these things' infants. That was rather inconvenient. 

"Um, excuse me?" Taylor spoke shakily. "Do you know where I am?" 

Caramel responded. "You're in October County, in the Land of Autumn." Upon seeing Taylor's blank look, she added, "In the Fae realms." 

"Oh." Taylor didn't really know what else to say. 

"I wonder, how did you get into the Land of Autumn without even knowing where it is?" Caramel questioned. "It's quite difficult to find an entrance even when well-informed!"

Honey grinned at Caramel. "Maybe Mother Magic led her to us? It's obvious that the poor girl's been in some kind of dangerous situation, judging by how scared she smells. Perhaps we're meant to be her guardians. You were just saying the other day that you wanted a child!" 

Taylor decided to butt in before the two whatever-they-were decided to keep her here. "Um, I'm actually nearly an adult. I don't really need a guardian! Besides, I already have a dad." 

Caramel frowned. "And he lets you get scared and injured, without helping?" 

Taylor sighed. She had a feeling that convincing these two that she could take care of herself was going to be more difficult than she had originally thought. 

"My dad didn't know about my injuries for two reasons. First, it had just happened before I somehow got here, so he didn't know about it yet, and second, I elected not to tell him about the bullying, because he would've gotten even more upset than usual. He already went through his wife dying, he doesn't need my troubles added to his list!" 

Caramel and Honey exchanged glances. Honey spoke up. 

"You do know that parents are _supposed_ to help their young ones when they have a problem? Even if he is unhappy because your mother died, he still should be protecting you. That's his job as a dad!" 

Taylor opened her mouth to speak up, but was interrupted by Caramel. 

"And being a parent is a full-time job, no matter how old you get." She spoke sternly. 

Taylor looked at the ground, suddenly embarrassed. "He still shouldn't have to deal with me when he has enough of his own problems..." 

Honey scooped up Taylor into another long-armed hug. "You aren't a burden, little human. I don't know who told you that, but they're wrong!" 

Taylor had never felt so comforted before. At least, not since her mom died. She accepted the hug gratefully. 

But as Taylor was snuggling to the arms of one of the creatures, she heard a gasp behind her. 

"Honey, look! The back of her neck!" 

Taylor craned her neck around, then remembered that she wouldn't be able to see the back of her own neck. 

Honey set Taylor down, and turned her around, brushing her hair aside gently. She too gasped. 

"You have the Mark of Autumn! That's how you got here!" She squealed happily. 

Taylor furrowed her brow. "What exactly is the Mark of Autumn?" 

Caramel grinned, patting Taylor's head. "A Mark of the Fae Realms allows humans not only to come and go as they please, but also to summon Fae from their specific Land into the human world!" 

"Why, it's been centuries since the last Marked Human showed up, and that was in the Spring Lands!" Honey was smiling from ear to ear. "Oh, the queen will be so happy to see you!" 

"The... the Queen?" Taylor asked, wide-eyed. 


End file.
